Redland Tiles (Australia) Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation (Cth)

High Court of Australia Barwick, CJ Redland Tiles (Australia) Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation (Cth)

ORDER Order Appeals allowed with costs. Amended assessment for the year 1964-1965 and assessment for the year 1965-1966 remitted to the Commissioner for re-assessment in conformity with reasons for judgment delivered herein this day. Barwick, CJ

The appellant is a manufacturer of concrete roofing tiles. These are produced by a machine which is composed of several principal parts. A conveyor carries to a hopper a continuous line of metal forms which are called machine pallets. The upper surface of these forms is in the configuration of the under surface of the concrete tile which the machine ultimately makes. The hopper, towards which the line of machine pallets is moving, contains concrete of the appropriate composition and consistency kept in agitated condition. The metal pallets move under the hopper on a solid base with an intermittent or discontinuous motion so that one pallet at a time comes wholly under the hopper. When the machine pallet is wholly under the hopper the concrete falls on the upper surface of the pallet. No means of escape is provided for the concrete except an aperture at which I might call the leading edge of the pallet formed by the under surface of a fixed block called a slipper and the upper surface of the pallet itself. As the pallet comes wholly under the hopper the concrete is forced under considerable pressure through this aperture. The under surface of this block or slipper is shaped so that the concrete forced under and past it takes the shape of the upper surface of a roofing tile whilst the pallet gives to the concrete the shape of the under surface of the tile. As the concrete is forced through the aperture the pallet moves forward at a suitable pace so that the concrete taking shape as it passes through the aperture becomes a continuous ribbon which rests on the pallet. This continuous strip or ribbon of concrete having the shape of a concrete tile is borne forward on the succession of machine pallets as they move from under the hopper. It remains as a continuous strip or ribbon until a point is reached where a guillotine cuts the concrete ribbon into lengths which correspond precisely with the length of the machine pallet. Thereafter each machine pallet carries the concrete tile in a green state to a point where it is held for curing and, ultimately, when cured and capable of supporting itself, it is dissociated from the machine pallet. The machine pallet is thereafter available for further use in the process I have described.